


when you're angry

by amorias



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Break Up/Make Up, F/M, team year 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 19:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9253400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amorias/pseuds/amorias
Summary: Artemis and Wally's on-again-off-again relationship comes to a head 8 months later.





	

After a long mission, everyone comes back to the Cave, dirty and sweaty but ultimately triumphant – though, that feeling didn't last for long due to the poisonous air between Artemis and Wally ever since they set foot on the Bioship to go on the mission. The rest of the team quickly scatters, Zatanna shooting Artemis a worried look before going down the hall.

“What the hell were you thinking back there, Artemis?” Wally asks, voice low and venomous in a way that it hasn't been in a long time, and it stings at her to remember. He throws off his cowl and his face has perfect outlines of soot from the blast, the skin not protected by his mask now a dusty, paled-out gray. Smudges of dust and singe marks dirty his suit and his hair might as well still be smoldering, but he looks ridiculously attractive right now and she has to swallow back the urge to jump him.

“Um, how about a _thank you_ for saving your life?” She spits back immediately. She throws her bow down on the couch of the living room in the Cave, before plopping down next to it, turned away from Wally, because screw him! “In case you can't remember, _I_ am the one who shot the arrow that blew up the crates before Bane could rip you in half!” She shoots him a dirty look, at which he throws his arms out to the side in exasperation. “You're lucky I like you or maybe I wouldn't have!”

“Artemis, I know how much you hate me,” he says, and she can maybe detect just the smallest crack in his tone. “Stop pretending like it's anything different than it is.”

She stands up and whirls around fast enough that Wally is surprised and she shoves a finger in his chest, because how _dare_ he say something like that! How dare he say that she's the one who supposedly hates _him_ even though he has broken up with her like fifteen hundred times before this one – okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it certainly feels like it's been that many times to her.

“You know that is not true, West,” she growls.

“Wow, pulling out the last names,” he says, some semblance of his normal cocky demeanor coming back to him. “Haven't heard that one recently.” He pushes her hand away from his chest and starts walking away, towards the showers. “When you want to apologize, you know where to find me, _Crock._ ”

Irritation flashes through her again, even more than she thought possible, and she wants to run after him and kill him or kiss him or scream in his face about how much he totally and completely sucks, but he's already around the corner before she can even process what just happened, so she picks up her bow and fires it straight at a cupboard in the kitchen, burying an arrow into the wood and stalking off.

 

“What happened?” Zatanna asks bluntly, sitting on her bed, one leg crossed over the other and an unimpressed look on her face. Artemis would be indignant over her expression if she so totally didn't deserve it.

“I don't know! We fought over something dumb and I might have thrown a book at him. Whatever, I knew he was fast enough to dodge it!” She shrugs, trying to be nonchalant but failing spectacularly. She has never felt more chalant in her life. She flops down in the beanbag chair next to Zatanna's bed and sighs, scrubbing her hands roughly over her face.

“Oh, Art. It'll be okay,” Zatanna says, lightening a little. “This always happens with you two! You'll be back together within two weeks, I promise you.”

“I think he really hates me,” Artemis says, voice too quiet and shaky to be her own. She stares down at her hands before curling them into fists, frustrated at her own idiocy.

“Oh please. You could break his arm and that boy would still be into you.”

She says nothing, and that night, she falls into a restless sleep and hopes Zatanna is right.

 

“Can I talk to you?”

Wally stands in the doorway of her quarters of the Cave, fidgeting.

“I guess,” she huffs, turning away from him and rolling her eyes.

“If you let me talk to you, I'll leave you alone,” he says as he steps into the room, raising his eyebrows, expression a mix of unimpressed and pleading. His voice is remarkably calm and collected and she suddenly feels like a child. “You did kind of light my hair on fire, can you give me this?”

“Yeah well...” Artemis mumbles between her teeth, voice losing ferocity with every syllable, “You needed a haircut anyway.”

They're silent for an awkward moment too long and Wally runs his hand through his hair and Artemis tries not to notice or look at him or do anything that doesn't include restringing her bow maybe a little more violently than is necessary.

“Okay, well you're not saying anything so I'm just going to talk then?” Wally says, irritation flashing through his voice. “I'm sorry, okay?” Now he's pacing. “I know we've broken up before but for some reason this time it feels different and...” He trails off and stops walking to look at her for a long moment. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, she stares hard up at a spot high up on the wall. “Fuck, Artemis,” he says, as if he's angry and frustrated and exasperated at how utterly stupid she is, “I love you.”

Artemis freezes, a record scratch sound effect playing in her mind. She slowly, agonizingly slowly, turns her head to look at him, and he's fidgeting and his cheeks are colored bright red and she feels like she is about to spontaneously combust from the heat rising to her face.

“You _what_?” she screeches, rising from her seat on the bed.

He grabs her by the shoulders and forces her to look at him and she can see pain and longing behind his green eyes and his breath smells vaguely of spearmint and wow, it feels like her ribs are just collapsing in on themselves with the lack of air that is currently going into her lungs.

“I love you,” Wally repeats, punctuating every word with brutal clarity and she knows having to slow down this much must be killing him inside. He leans forward and kisses her, and it's like she's transported back on the Watchtower at midnight on New Years Eve, eight months ago. He pulls back and she wishes he hadn't, and he removes his hands from her shoulders and takes a few steps back and doesn't look at her. “That's it. If you don't want to talk to me ever again, fine. I just...” He swallows hard, voice quiet and defeated, “I just wanted to say that.”

Wally turns to leave, starting for the door. He's halfway out before Artemis regains any kind of brain function and jumps after him, grabbing his wrist. He looks at her, eyebrows raised, as she stands there and sputters dumbly.

“You idiot,” she finally mutters, pressing close to him and letting herself sinking into his arms, unsure if she's talking more to him or to herself, “I love you, too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm obsessed with the idea that artemis and wally had a really rough first year of their relationship and they just broke up and got back together like six times before figuring their shit out so that's where this comes from. thanks for reading!! like/bookmark/comment, etc. my tumblr is ivankarelin.tumblr.com


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